Now available — free to read online
A Thought in the Mind of God
“Everything that exists is a thought in the mind of God, sustained by His will, authored by His purpose, and held together by personal covenants of love.”Read Now
This index covers topics substantively discussed in each chapter. Chapter numbers refer to Chapters 1-30. Other abbreviations: Prologue, Preface, Epilogue, App. A1 through App. N. (Appendixes O-R are reference tools: Scripture Index, this Topical Index, Glossary, and Bibliography.)
Abba, Father (Aramaic familiar form, cry of the adopted elect) — App. A1
Abrahamic covenant — Ch. 8
Absolute predestination — Ch. 1, Ch. 2, Ch. 5, Ch. 11, Ch. 14, Ch. 19
Act and potency (Aristotelian/Thomist distinction, subsumed by framework as rendering-level observation) — App. A1
Active obedience of Christ — Ch. 15
Adam as picture of the elect (not substitute) — Ch. 11
Adam created sinful (not righteous then fallen) — Ch. 3, Ch. 11, App. A1
Adam, “when not if” (Genesis 2:17 presupposes the fall) — Ch. 11
Adamic covenant (Genesis 3:15, first rendering of covenant of grace) — Ch. 8
Adonai (divine name — Lord, Master) — App. A1
Adoption — Ch. 15
“All” in Romans 5 (consistency argument, elect throughout) — Ch. 11
Already/not-yet distinction (experiential, not actual) — Ch. 15
Amillennialism — Ch. 27
Annihilationism (rejected as false dilemma) — Ch. 28
Antichrist (many, not one future figure) — App. A6
Antitype (higher-resolution rendering of an Old Testament type, fulfilled in Christ) — Ch. 9
Antilegomena (disputed books of the canon) — Ch. 12, Ch. 26, App. A5
Antinomianism (redefined: lowering the law, not resting in Christ) — Ch. 20
Apostles’ incomplete understanding (progressive rendering applied to the early church) — Ch. 9
Attributes of God (derived from the sentence) — App. A1
Augustine and the inherited framework — App. A1, App. I, App. J
Augustine chose realism over idealism (Plotinus corruption of Plato) — App. J
Author of evil, God as — Ch. 1, Ch. 5, Ch. 11, Ch. 13, App. A1
Baptism of the Holy Spirit (equals regeneration) — Ch. 22, App. A4
Credentials, irrelevance of (the fruit is the qualification) — Preface, Epilogue, App. A11
Christ IS the covenant (not just mediator) — Ch. 6
Christ is the believer’s rule (not the Mosaic law, not the Decalogue) — Ch. 20
Circular reasoning (all reasoning is circular) — Ch. 2, Ch. 25
Common bounty (distinct from common grace) — Ch. 19
Condemnation of the gospel vs. curse of the law — Ch. 12, Ch. 28
Conscience — App. A4
Continuous sanctification — see Sanctification, positional/continuous
Council of Trent (antilegomena debate buried) — App. A5
Covenant of works (at Sinai, not in the garden) — Ch. 8, Ch. 20, App. A1
Covenant of works with Adam (denied, Hosea 6:7) — Ch. 11, App. A1
Covenant theology, standard (critique of) — Ch. 5, Ch. 7, Ch. 8, App. C
Critique methods, Platonic (heresy-hunting, syllogism, gatekeeping, name-calling, false implication, guilt by association, refusing to read the system, pulpit sniping, whisper campaigns) — App. N (Costume 20)
Costumes, the twenty (Platonic errors in modern Christianity) — App. N
False implication (attributing positions the accused does not hold) — App. N (Costume 20)
Guilt by association (as Platonic critique method) — App. N (Costume 20)
Covenant before ceremony (invisible precedes visible, applied) — Ch. 10, Ch. 22, Ch. 26
Covenants as personal promises, not contracts — Ch. 1, Ch. 7, Ch. 8, Ch. 10
Davidic covenant — Ch. 8
Demon possession — believers cannot be possessed (possession vs. influence vs. oppression) — App. A2
Time travel (framework answer: not for creatures) — App. A12
Dreams (OS running without application-layer supervision) — App. A12
Deja vu (layers of the soul briefly desynchronized) — App. A12
Multiverses (rejected — one Mind, one thought, one reality) — App. A12
Depression (firmware/OS event, not sin) — App. A12
ADHD and neurodivergence (authored hardware variance, not moral failure) — App. A12
Discernment vs. judgment (reading patterns vs. pronouncing eternal standing) — App. A12
Gender dysphoria (suffering real, body authored, scalpel not the answer) — App. A12
New creative work in heaven (speculative — framework leans yes) — App. A12
Children who die young (safe to say they have the blood — David’s confidence, Christ’s words on children) — App. A12
Knowing each other in heaven (identity persists, knowing increases) — App. A12
“Angels that sinned” (2 Peter 2:4 / Jude 6 as false teachers, not celestial beings) — Ch. 13, App. A2
“Condemnation of the devil” (1 Timothy 3:6, genitive of source) — Ch. 13, App. A2
“Devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41, authored servants, not recruited rebels) — Ch. 13, App. A2
False teachers as “angels” (angelos = messengers) — Ch. 13, App. A2
Revelation 12:7-9 (war in heaven as gospel triumph, not pre-creation rebellion) — Ch. 13, App. A2
Revelation 12:4 (third of the stars, symbolic, not literal angel census) — App. A2
Satan as lightning (Luke 10:18, present collapse of authority, not past fall) — Ch. 13, App. A2
Dichotomy (body and soul) — App. A4
Dispensationalism (critique of) — Ch. 5, Ch. 27, App. A6, App. C
Dispensationalism, origins of (first-century Jerusalem, not Darby) — App. A6
DNA as authored code (the programmer’s argument from functional information) — Ch. 1, Ch. 3
Dreams — App. A12
Effectual calling (absorbed into regeneration in MCT) — Ch. 15, App. A1
Ekklesia (Greek for “called-out assembly,” not “the Lord’s house”) — Ch. 23
Election, unconditional — Ch. 5, Ch. 12, Ch. 15, Ch. 25, Ch. 30, App. D
Eternal justification — see Justification from eternity
Eternity (nature of, as absence of time) — Ch. 2
Evil as privation/absence of good (Augustine, rejected) — Ch. 13
Evil spirit from the Lord (1 Samuel 16:14) — Ch. 13
Exorcisms (previews of higher-resolution rendering) — App. A7
Faith and conversion as one step (MCT ordo salutis) — Ch. 15
Faith IS assurance (against Westminster Confession) — Ch. 21, App. A3
Fall as revelation of nature, not catastrophe — Ch. 3, Ch. 11, App. A1
“Become as one of us” (Genesis 3:22, experiential not ontological) — Ch. 11, App. A1
Creation “made subject to vanity” (Romans 8:20-21, original authorship not post-fall curse) — Ch. 11, App. A1
Flood, the (rendering reset, second downgrade, Noahic covenant) — Ch. 8, App. A1
Federal headship (rejected) — Ch. 7, Ch. 11, App. A3, App. C
Filling of the Spirit (distinct from baptism) — App. A4
Fire as God’s presence (not separate punishment) — Ch. 28
God’s holiness and evil — Ch. 13
Groanings and utterances (pre-linguistic prayer, Romans 8:26) — App. E
Grace preceded the fall (remedy before the disease) — Ch. 11, Ch. 15
Hermeneutical principle (the clear interprets the unclear) — Ch. 26
Hippo and Carthage, Councils of (recognized, not created, the canon) — Ch. 10, Ch. 26
Historicism (eschatological) — Ch. 27
Holy days / Christian calendar (matters of conscience) — Ch. 21
“Believe in Jesus and do as you please” (Augustine’s “love God and do what you will,” restated for Christ) — Ch. 21
Holy Spirit, Person of — App. A1
Holy Spirit’s work as epistemological (not mystical) — Ch. 16
Homologoumena (undisputed books of the canon) — Ch. 26
Hypostatic union — Ch. 6
Idealism, traditional (devalues the material) — App. J
Immutability of God — Ch. 2
Imprecatory Psalms (appropriate in mouths of the righteous) — Ch. 28
Imputation of Christ’s righteousness — Ch. 15
Inability, total (natural man’s lack of capacity, not just willingness) — Ch. 16, Ch. 25
Incarnation — Ch. 6
Incorrect practice does not damn — Ch. 24
Inspiration and authority of Scripture — App. A1
Intelligent design (critique of, distinguished from authorship) — Ch. 1, Ch. 3, Ch. 4
Intermediate state — App. A3
Judgment, final (ceremony/public declaration, not verdict) — Ch. 2
Justification, three frames of (cross, conversion, judgment) — Ch. 2
Kenosis (emptying of Christ) — Ch. 6
Kingdom of God (spiritual, not physical) — Ch. 27
Knowledge-Calvinism (adding doctrinal precision as condition of salvation) — Ch. 30
Law of Plato — see Plato, law of
Label-slapping — see Name-calling / label-slapping
Lay theologian (Brandan as non-seminary systematic theologian, man without credentials) — Preface, Prologue
Lucifer myth (rejected) — Ch. 13
Lydia and the moment of awareness — App. A10
Means and regeneration (debate assessed) — App. A3
Modalism (rejected) — Ch. 6
Modesty (heart posture, not dress code) — Ch. 21
Millennium (present age) — Ch. 27
Miracles (previews of higher-resolution rendering) — Ch. 29
Name-calling / label-slapping (as Platonic critique method, compromiser / hyper / Gnostic etc.) — Prologue, Ch. 19, Ch. 30, Acknowledgments, App. A10 (“Slapping labels” section), App. I, App. K (Phil Johnson exchange), App. L (Bob’s story), App. N (Costume 20 — master diagnosis)
Natural disasters (authored, not punishment for specific sins) — App. A9
Neutrality, no neutral ground — Ch. 25
New Covenant IS the covenant of grace — Ch. 8
Noahic covenant — Ch. 8
Ontological difference (elect vs. reprobate, difference of kind not degree) — Ch. 12
Open theism (rejected) — Ch. 2
Ordo salutis (MCT) — Ch. 15
Pantheism (rejected) — Ch. 1
Partial preterism — Ch. 27
Particular love of God (bridegroom/bride, not universal) — Ch. 19
Permission, divine (rejected as concept) — Ch. 1, Ch. 5, Ch. 11, Ch. 13
Perpetual virginity of Mary — App. A3
Perseverance/preservation of the saints — Ch. 15, Ch. 25, App. A3
Plato, law of — Ch. 1, Ch. 5, Ch. 7, Ch. 10, Ch. 11, Ch. 13, Ch. 18, App. N
Posse peccare (ability to sin, critique of) — Ch. 11, Ch. 13
Postmillennialism (critique of) — Ch. 27
Predestination — Prologue, Ch. 1, Ch. 2, Ch. 5, Ch. 11, Ch. 14
Pre-incarnate appearances of Christ (theophanies) — Ch. 6
Premillennialism (critique of) — Ch. 27
Progressive revelation — see Progressive rendering
Progressive rendering (not progressive covenant) — Ch. 9, Ch. 22
Progressive sanctification produces pride or despair — Ch. 18
Prophetic hyperbole (cosmic language for political events) — Ch. 13
Ransom-to-the-devil atonement (Patristic error, rejected) — Ch. 13
Prophet, Priest, King (offices of Christ) — Ch. 6
Providence — Ch. 5
Rapture (pretribulational, rejected) — App. A6
Regeneration at the firmware level (objections and answers) — App. E
Repentance, legal vs. evangelical — App. A1
Resurrection as removal of constraints (not addition of abilities) — Ch. 29
Resurrection body — Ch. 29
Roman Catholicism (claim to have given us the Bible, rejected) — Ch. 26, Ch. 27, Ch. 28
Salvation as past event — Ch. 19
Sanctification, positional/continuous — Ch. 15, Ch. 18, App. C
Sanctification, progressive (rejected) — Ch. 18
Saving faith vs. doctrine (personal trust vs. propositions) — Ch. 30
Seed of the serpent — Ch. 12
Sharpest doctrine produces the widest arms (Ch. 30 thesis) — Ch. 30, Epilogue
Sign of the New Covenant (Spirit, not water) — Ch. 22
Mode of baptism (immersion/sprinkling, matter of conscience, no clear NT prescription) — Ch. 22
Paedobaptism vs. credobaptism (both miss the point; the sign is the Spirit, not the water) — Ch. 22
Sacrament (dual usage — rejected sacerdotal sense vs. affirmed Latin sense of sacred embodied rendering) — Ch. 10, Ch. 22, App. A5, App. A6, App. N (Costume 8), App. Q (glossary)
Sovereignty of God — Prologue, Ch. 1, Ch. 2, Ch. 5, Ch. 14, Ch. 21, Ch. 30
Syllogism without Scripture (as Platonic critique method) — App. N (Costume 20)
Spiritual warfare (demons as authored instruments, not rogue agents) — Ch. 13, App. A2
Study to be quiet (humility, the posture of the Spirit-led life) — Ch. 21
Substitutionary atonement / Christ as surety — Ch. 15
Theophanies / Angel of the LORD (pre-incarnate Christ) — Ch. 6
Three divisions of the law (moral/ceremonial/civil, rejected) — Ch. 20
Tier list of sins (rejected) — Ch. 14
Tritheism (rejected) — Ch. 6
TULIP — Ch. 5, Ch. 12, Ch. 15, Ch. 16, Ch. 19, Ch. 25 (full mapping in “TULIP in the Framework”), App. A11
TULIP in the Framework (five points mapped to operational idealism) — Ch. 25
Two covenants running simultaneously (OT) — Ch. 8
Two wills of God (rejected) — App. A3
Unforgivable sin — App. A3
“Upright” does not mean sinless (Ecclesiastes 7:29, Job 1:8) — Ch. 11
“Very good” means purposeful, not sinless (Genesis 1:31) — Ch. 11
Vessels of wrath and vessels of mercy (both necessary) — Ch. 5, Ch. 12, Ch. 28
Virgin birth — Ch. 6
Visible church vs. invisible church distinction (rejected) — Ch. 23
Bronze serpent (Numbers 21, type of Christ lifted up, John 3:14-15) — Ch. 9
Cities of refuge (Numbers 35, Joshua 20, type of Christ as refuge until the High Priest dies) — Ch. 9
Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16, type of Christ’s propitiation and expiation) — Ch. 9
Divine names of God — App. A1
El, Elohim, El Shaddai, El Elyon, El Roi (compound divine names) — App. A1
Eternal generation of the Son (rejected as Plotinian template imported into the Godhead) — App. A1, App. N (Costume 21)
Cappadocian fathers (Basil, Gregory of Nyssa, Gregory Nazianzus — borrowed Plotinian hierarchy to articulate Trinity) — App. A1
Emanation (Plotinian doctrine sanitized into Christian “generation”) — App. A1, App. N
Filioque controversy (1054 split as downstream of Plotinian template) — App. A1
Origen (used Plotinus’s emanation language to describe the Son) — App. A1
Plotinus / Neoplatonism (the immediate philosophical source of eternal generation) — App. A1, App. N
Substitutionary work of Christ (substitution as the architecture all atonement aspects sit inside) — Ch. 6, Ch. 15, App. A1
Made sin (2 Cor 5:21, the strongest expression of imputation) — Ch. 15, App. A1
Mass of sin (Gill’s expression on 2 Cor 5:21) — App. A1
Double imputation (our sin to Christ, His righteousness to us) — Ch. 15, App. A1
Active obedience and passive obedience of Christ — Ch. 15, App. A1
Christ made a curse for us (Galatians 3:13) — App. A1
Reconciliation (atoning aspect, restored fellowship) — Ch. 15, App. A1
Forensic justification (affirmed but not the whole story) — Ch. 15, App. A1
Forsakenness of Christ on the cross (My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me) — App. A1
Made-sin controversy (Brandan’s defense of Gill’s expression) — App. A1
Father, eternal — relation, not generation — App. A1
Fatherhood of God (relational doctrine, eternal Father by relation to the Son and adoption to the elect) — App. A1
Goel (Hebrew kinsman-redeemer, type of Christ) — Ch. 9
Jehovah / YHWH (the covenant redemptive name) — App. A1
Jehovah-Jireh, -Rapha, -Nissi, -Shalom, -Ra-ah, -Tsidkenu, -Shammah (compound covenant names) — App. A1
Kinsman-Redeemer (Hebrew goel, type of Christ in Boaz) — Ch. 9
Names of God — see Divine names of God
Old Testament types and pictures of redemption — Ch. 9
Passover (Exodus 12, type of Christ as the Lamb) — Ch. 9
Scapegoat (Leviticus 16, type of Christ bearing iniquity away) — Ch. 9
Tabernacle (type of Christ as meeting place between God and His people) — Ch. 9
Tetragrammaton (YHWH, the unspeakable Name) — App. A1
Type / typology (Old Testament rendering of Christ at lower resolution; antitype is the higher-resolution rendering) — Ch. 9
Analog thought, digital rendering — App. H
Application layer (conscious mind) — Ch. 16, Ch. 17, Ch. 25, App. E
Augustinian foundation (every Reformed system since builds on it; this book lays new ground) — App. I, App. J
“Bit from God” (inversion of Wheeler’s “it from bit”) — Ch. 3
Bridge to the secular reader (scientist/programmer) — Ch. 1, Ch. 3, App. G, App. I, App. J
Caterpillar/butterfly analogy (elect sinner to glorified saint) — Ch. 12, Ch. 29
Center-and-spoke architecture (vs. Clark’s line) — App. I
Consciousness as fundamental, not emergent — Ch. 1, Ch. 3, Ch. 25
Creature IS the nature (not “has” a nature) — Ch. 14
Curator, the (application layer managing exposure) — Ch. 28, App. L
Derivation map — App. B
Discernment (which channel sent this feeling?) — App. E
Entanglement, quantum (one thought, two locations) — App. H
Epistemological vs. ontological starting point — App. I, App. J
Filmstrip analogy (eternity and time) — Ch. 2, Ch. 5, Ch. 21
Firmware flash (regeneration) — Ch. 12, Ch. 15, Ch. 16, Ch. 25
Fortress vs. bridge (Clark’s closed system vs. the framework’s on-ramp) — App. I
Four-layer model (hardware, firmware, OS, application) — Ch. 16, Ch. 17, Ch. 21, Ch. 28, App. E, App. J
Hardware interrupt (Spirit’s direct intervention) — Ch. 17, App. E
Neuroscience mapping (amygdala 12ms, prefrontal 500ms, insula, anterior cingulate) — Ch. 17, App. E
“Held, not trapped” (operational idealism’s distinctive) — App. J
Higher resolution (rendering upgrade) — Ch. 6, Ch. 9, Ch. 28, Ch. 29
Law of Plato — Ch. 1, Ch. 5, Ch. 7, Ch. 10, Ch. 11, Ch. 13, Ch. 18, App. N
Materialism (rejected as ontological foundation) — App. J
Metacognition (thinking about thinking, uniquely human) — Ch. 17
Modified Covenant Theology (MCT) — Preface, Ch. 5, Ch. 8, Ch. 15, Ch. 22, App. C
MCT 13 Distinctives (comparison chart with CT, DT, NCT) — App. C
Mud and spit (John 9, the Lawgiver breaking the Pharisees’ hedge) — App. A1
Operational idealism — Preface, Ch. 1, Ch. 10, Ch. 20, App. I, App. J
Permission is sovereignty with plausible deniability — Ch. 5
Philosophy generated by theology (reversed direction) — App. J
Quantum mechanics / quantum realm (rendering engine at the micro level) — Ch. 3, App. H
Quantum realm as God’s thoughts (physics confirms but cannot prove) — Ch. 3, App. H
Realism, Reformed (critique of, the gap, secondary causes, permission language) — App. J
“This is panentheism” (Horton/Hodge objection answered: identity vs. authorship vs. extension) — App. J
“Why the rest falls apart” (materialism, realism, traditional idealism all collapse; only operational idealism holds) — App. J
The peace of zero distance (what each ontology produces: numbness, trust-across-gap, escape, or zero distance) — Ch. 1, App. J
Peace comparison chart (materialism vs. realism vs. traditional idealism vs. operational idealism) — Ch. 1, App. J
Rendering (physical world as rendering of God’s thought) — Ch. 1, Ch. 2, Ch. 3, Ch. 9, Ch. 29
Rendering downgrade (the fall as rendering parameter change) — Ch. 3
Rendering engine analogy (video game rendering) — Ch. 3, Ch. 28, Ch. 29
Rendering parameters (death, thorns, pain, entropy) — Ch. 3
Status vs. awareness (positional perfection + deepening awareness) — Ch. 18
Substance and formality table (universal pattern) — Ch. 10
Superposition (the unrendered thought) — App. H
The Curse and the Condemnation (curse of law vs. condemnation of gospel) — Ch. 12, Ch. 28
“The field is Christ” — Epilogue
The glass (curator concept, barrier between self and world) — Preface, Ch. 28, App. L
The verse nobody touched (tradition walking past Paul’s metaphors as illustration instead of architecture) — Ch. 28
Scriptural seeds of the framework’s vocabulary (filmstrip, rendering engine, firmware, boot parameters, glass all sitting in the text) — Ch. 2, Ch. 28, App. E
Independent precedents (Polanyi, Gendlin, Damasio, LeDoux, McGilchrist, Edwards, Smith, arrived at similar insights in separate fields) — App. E
Golden calf as preview of the reprobate final state (Exodus 32:25 miniature) — Ch. 28
The infinite loop (Author dying inside His own thought) — Ch. 6
The book as therapy (what writing it did to the author) — Epilogue
“I am a thought” (living inside the ontology, not subscribing to it; the character noticing the prose) — Epilogue
Subscribing vs. inhabiting (sovereign grace as membership card vs. air you breathe) — Epilogue
“The Gatekeepers” (parable of the final state, three saints and a gatekeeping pastor) — App. L
A New Reformation (five solas without tradition) — App. M
Five solas (derived from Scripture, no confession required) — App. M
“The Reformers said ‘sola’ and meant ‘mostly’” (the Reformation that did not finish) — App. M
Sola Scriptura without confessional override — App. M
Sola Fide without vocabulary requirements — App. M
Sola Gratia without common grace or duty faith — App. M
Solus Christus without third use of the law — App. M
Soli Deo Gloria including the authorship of evil — App. M
Reformation completed by a programmer from the post office — App. M
Three groups in final creation (elect angels, elect humans, reprobate) — Ch. 12, Ch. 28
Trivium (grammar, logic, rhetoric) as divine pedagogy — Ch. 16
Uncertainty principle (rendering constraints) — App. H
Unified field theory (the sentence as) — Epilogue
Theory of everything (physics cannot find it because they’re trying to unify two layers of one rendering) — App. H
Wave function collapse — App. H
Author and characters (God and creation) — Ch. 1, Ch. 2, Ch. 5, Ch. 6, Ch. 11
Bicycle/flying (child mourning loss of lesser thing) — Ch. 29
Big Bang theory — App. A1
Calculator and mathematician (AI and image of God) — App. A9
Caterpillar and butterfly (elect sinner to glorified saint) — Ch. 12, Ch. 29
Cave (Dead Sea Scrolls hidden in caves) — Prologue
Computer architecture (four layers of the soul) — Ch. 16, Ch. 17, App. E
Courthouse vs. cross (not legislating regeneration) — Ch. 14
Director’s chair (Christ’s session at the right hand) — Ch. 6
Donkey (Balaam’s donkey as temporary rendering upgrade) — App. A9
Fig leaves (first act of the curator, Genesis 3) — Ch. 28
Firmware flash (regeneration) — Ch. 16
Fossil record as backstory (not deception) — Ch. 4
Hospital (church as hospital, “I’m a patient too”) — Ch. 23
Joshua 22 altar (misunderstanding between brethren) — Ch. 30
Malware and quarantine (demons and Satan’s fate) — App. A2
Mechanic vs. manufacturer (therapy vs. regeneration) — Ch. 17
Novel/story (God as Author of reality) — Ch. 1, Ch. 4, Ch. 11, Ch. 13
Oak tree illustration (doctrines of grace as root system) — Ch. 30
Painter and painting (Creator and creation) — Ch. 1
Photograph coming into focus (progressive rendering) — Ch. 9
Pig pen / prodigal son (elect before conversion) — Ch. 15, Ch. 16
Rock and apple (elect vs. reprobate, per Higby) — Ch. 12
Root access (Spirit’s exclusive access to firmware) — Ch. 16, Ch. 25
Same sun melts wax and hardens clay — Ch. 28
Shadow and substance (ceremony and covenant) — Ch. 10, Ch. 22, Ch. 29
Signature vs. surface (recognition in resurrection) — Ch. 29
Simulation hypothesis (secular version of idealism) — Ch. 1, Ch. 3, App. A11, App. G, App. J
Sinai overlay — Ch. 8
Television and signal (brain and consciousness) — Ch. 17
“There but for the grace of God go I” (imprecise but essential) — Ch. 12, Ch. 14
Trip planning (supralapsarianism) — Ch. 5
Watch/watchmaker (deism, rejected) — Ch. 1
Whitewashed tombs (Pharisees) — Ch. 14
AI and eschatology (speculation, clearly labeled) — Ch. 27
AI consciousness — App. A9
AI, Christianity in the age of (the machine is a frame, not the Shepherd) — App. A9
Alcohol (moderation vs. drunkenness, mastery principle) — Ch. 21, App. A7
Altar calls / decisionism (rejected) — Ch. 19
Antinomianism (redefined) — Ch. 20
Apostasy (elect cannot) — App. A3
Baptism (infant vs. believer) — Ch. 22
Baptism, mode of — Ch. 22
Baptism of the Holy Spirit — App. A4
Baptismal regeneration (rejected) — Ch. 22
Bible translation issues (NIV/ESV softening Isaiah 45:7) — Ch. 13
Capital punishment — App. A8
Cannabis (framework’s mastery principle applied) — App. A7
Birth control (preventing conception vs. destroying life) — App. A7
Cessationism / continuationism — App. A4
Charismatic gifts — App. A4
Church government / polity — Ch. 23
Clerical titles / “Reverend” (rejected for men) — App. A5
Communication with the dead — App. A9
Communion / Lord’s Supper (as celebration, agape feast) — Ch. 10
Comforting the grieving — App. A10
Confusion vs. rebellion (Arminians using inherited language) — Ch. 30
Corporal punishment / the rod (shepherd’s guide, not beating stick) — App. A7
Tower of Babel (judgment on uniformity, scattering as mercy) — App. A1
Many thoughts and one thought (the unity of God’s mind) — App. A1
Head and heart dichotomy (rejected as artificial) — App. A4
Great Commission and itinerant preaching (not “missions” in the modern sense) — App. A5
Deriving instead of defending (the framework’s posture toward apologetics) — App. A5
Number of the beast (666, symbolic, not literal) — App. A6
Great apostasy (recurring pattern, not a single end-times event) — App. A6
Creation debate as idol — Ch. 4
Creeds and confessions (unsigned) — App. A5
Degrees of reward in heaven (rejected, Christ is the reward) — App. A3
Divorce and remarriage — App. A7
Drugs / pharmakeia (medical vs. recreational vs. spiritual) — App. A7
Drunkenness (loss of faculty, sin) — App. A7
Egalitarianism (rejected) — Ch. 24
Fatalism (distinguished from sovereignty) — Ch. 21
Free will (rejected in libertarian sense) — Ch. 2, Ch. 11, Ch. 19
Full preterism (rejected as heresy) — App. A6
Gatekeeping (sovereign grace people deciding who is in/out, doctrinal exams as replacement for Spirit’s work) — Ch. 30, App. A, App. A10, App. L (“The Gatekeepers” parable), App. N (Costume 20)
Head coverings (hair as the covering, conscience) — Ch. 24
Heresy hunting (as Platonic critique method) — Ch. 30, App. A, App. A10, App. K, App. L, App. N (Costume 20)
Human responsibility (rejected; accountability affirmed) — Ch. 19
Hyper-Calvinism (label addressed) — Prologue, Ch. 19, Ch. 30, App. I, App. K, App. N (Costume 20)
Infants who die (all go to heaven) — App. A3
License vs. liberty (distinction) — Ch. 21
Lordship salvation (critique of) — Ch. 26
Mentally disabled — App. A3
Music in worship — App. A5
Nephilim — App. A2
Newspaper exegesis (critique of) — Ch. 27
Offer of the gospel (rejected; proclamation affirmed) — Ch. 19, App. K
Ordained does not mean approved — Ch. 14
Ordination — App. A5
Other religions — App. A9
Paid preachers — App. A5
Pharmakeia (drug use for spiritual experience, condemned) — App. A7
Quiverfull movement (rejected) — App. A7
Humanae Vitae (Catholic contraception position, rejected) — App. A7
Premarital sex (fornication vs. pre-ceremony covenant claim) — App. A7
Pornography (simulated intimacy, ceremony without substance) — App. A7
Masturbation (four cases, framework-derived, conscience territory) — App. A7
Onan misreading (Genesis 38 not about masturbation) — App. A7
Euthanasia (active, PAS, withdrawal, palliative care distinguished) — App. A7
Physician-assisted suicide (rejected) — App. A3
Death with dignity movement (rejected) — App. A7
Gun control and self-defense (framework position) — App. A8
Self-defense (Exodus 22, Luke 22, 1 Tim 5:8) — App. A8
Dual sword principle (state’s sword and household’s sword) — App. A8
Pacifism (progressive rejection of all force, refused) — App. A8
UFOs and aliens (interdimensional/demonic hypothesis for hard cases) — App. A8
Extraterrestrial life (framework ontology can accommodate but does not require) — App. A8
Ancient astronauts / space brothers religion (rejected) — App. A8
Tobacco use (cigarettes, cigars, vaping, pouches; mastery principle) — App. A7
Vaping and e-cigarettes (engineered for teen addiction, framework treatment) — App. A7
Nicotine pouches (mastery principle without body-destruction argument) — App. A7
Spurgeon and tobacco (historical Christian record on cigars) — App. A7
Obesity and gluttony (the sin is mastery, not body size) — App. A7
Gluttony (Scripture’s named sin, distinct from body size) — App. A7
Modern food environment (industrially engineered hyper-palatable products) — App. A7
GLP-1 medications (Ozempic and the appetite-mastery question) — App. A7
Eating disorders (bondage to food in opposite direction) — App. A7
Fat acceptance movement (rejected as denial of body’s moral weight) — App. A7
Fat-shaming (refused; size is not the moral variable) — App. A7
Prohibitionism (rejected as Platonic) — App. A7
Prosperity gospel (rejected) — App. A8
Religious relics and physical worship (rejected) — App. A5
Second ransom (rejected) — Ch. 12
Shibboleths — App. A10
Simulation theory incompatible with materialism and realism — Ch. 3, App. A11
Suicide — App. A3
Those who never hear the gospel — App. A3
Tithing (not required) — App. A8
Tongues (languages, not ecstatic utterance) — App. A4
Transubstantiation (rejected) — Ch. 10
War and pacifism — App. A8
Women in ministry / women preaching — Ch. 24
Young earth vs. old earth — Ch. 4
Almeida, Milton — Acknowledgments
Alvord, David — Acknowledgments
Aquinas, Thomas (act and potency, subsumed by framework) — App. A1
Aristotle (act and potency) — App. A1
Apologists, Greek Christian (Justin Martyr et al., identifying Christ with the Greek Logos) — App. N
Bahnsen, Greg — Ch. 25
Baker, Kyle — Acknowledgments
Beckett, Eileen (Pristine Grace contributor, the only woman published on the site, lived the tenderness Ch. 30 describes, deceased) — Acknowledgments
Bell, Donnie — Acknowledgments
Berkeley, George (subjective idealism) — App. J
Berkhof, Louis — App. I
Bishop, David — Acknowledgments
Bradford, John — Ch. 12
Brown, Larry — Acknowledgments
Byrd, Jim — Acknowledgments
Calvin, John — Ch. 27, Acknowledgments
Cappadocians (fourth-century Neoplatonic theologians of the Eastern tradition) — App. N
Carpenter, Marc — Acknowledgments
Clark, Gordon — Prologue, Ch. 5, Ch. 16, App. D, Acknowledgments
Clement of Alexandria (second-to-third-century Middle Platonist Christian fusionist) — App. N
Coleman, Aaron — Acknowledgments
Collier, Monty — Acknowledgments
Covington, Mary — Acknowledgments
Crabtree, Bruce — Acknowledgments
Cunningham, Chris — Acknowledgments
Darby, John Nelson — Ch. 27
Dead Sea Scrolls / Qumran / Essenes — Prologue, Ch. 5, Ch. 8, Ch. 9, App. F
Dickmann, Mike — Acknowledgments
Dietz, Drew and Melinda (close friends, retired sovereign grace pastor) — Acknowledgments
Eastern Orthodoxy (view of hell, same presence) — Ch. 28
Damasio, Antonio (somatic marker hypothesis, precedent for pre-propositional) — App. E
Edwards, Jonathan (idealist leanings; Religious Affections as precedent for pre-propositional) — App. E, App. J
Ella, George (Strict Baptist historian, biographer of Gadsby) — Acknowledgments
Erkel, Darryl — Ch. 23
Fortner, Don — Ch. 30, Acknowledgments
Gadsby, William — Preface, Acknowledgments
Galatian Judaizers — Ch. 20
Gendlin, Eugene (felt sense, precedent for pre-propositional) — App. E
Gerety, Sean (Clarkian, Trinity Foundation) — Acknowledgments
Gill, John — Prologue, Preface, Ch. 30, Acknowledgments, App. A1 (made sin / mass of sin / 2 Cor 5:21 commentary)
Gonzalez, Gabriel — Acknowledgments
Gregory of Nyssa — Ch. 28
Grudem, Wayne — App. I
Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich (absolute idealism) — App. J
Hein, Rick — Acknowledgments
Higby, Bob (theological DNA, supralapsarian architect, ecclesiological mentor, the bricks and the cathedral) — Prologue, Preface, Ch. 5, Ch. 9, Ch. 10, Ch. 12, Ch. 22, App. A, App. C, App. D, App. F, App. K, App. Q, Epilogue, Acknowledgments
Higby, Dan (Bob’s son) — Acknowledgments
Higby, Ruth (Bob’s wife) — Acknowledgments
Hoeksema, Herman — App. I
Holbrook, Tammi and Chip — Acknowledgments
Huckle, Roger — Acknowledgments
Huss, Jan — Ch. 27
Ilyasov, Renat — Acknowledgments
Isaac the Syrian — Ch. 28
James, William (Principles of Psychology, precedent for pre-propositional) — App. E
James, Tim — Acknowledgments
Johnson, James — Acknowledgments
Johnson, Phil — Prologue, Ch. 5, Ch. 19, App. K, Acknowledgments
Johnson, Ray — Acknowledgments
Justin Martyr (second-century Apologist, identified Christ with the Greek Logos) — App. N
Kahneman, Daniel (System 1 / System 2, precedent for pre-propositional) — App. E
Keil, Abe and Carol — Acknowledgments
Kickert, Ray — Acknowledgments
Kinney, Joe — Acknowledgments
Knox, John — Ch. 27
Krall, Mike — Acknowledgments
Laurienzo, Nicholas — Acknowledgments
LeDoux, Joseph (The Emotional Brain, 12ms amygdala, precedent for pre-propositional) — App. E
Lindsey, Hal (Late Great Planet Earth) — Ch. 27
Lovins, Nick (longtime friend and encourager) — Acknowledgments
Luther, Martin — Prologue, Ch. 12, Ch. 26, Ch. 27, Acknowledgments
Mahan, Henry (“mercy, not mechanics”) — Ch. 30
Manichaeism (rejected) — Ch. 12
McGilchrist, Iain (The Master and His Emissary, divided brain, precedent for pre-propositional) — App. E
Merleau-Ponty, Maurice (Phenomenology of Perception, pre-reflective consciousness) — App. E
Miklosik, Craig — Acknowledgments
Milton, John — Ch. 13
Mowrey, Bryan — Acknowledgments
Murrell, Conrad — Acknowledgments
Musk, Elon (simulation hypothesis) — App. G
Newton, John (hymnist, “Amazing Grace”) — Acknowledgments
Nibert, Todd — Acknowledgments
Nietzsche — Ch. 17
O’Nanski, Scott — Acknowledgments
Origen (third-century Middle Platonist Christian at Alexandria) — App. N
Parker, Bill (sovereign grace pastor) — Acknowledgments
Pedersen, John — Acknowledgments
Pendleton, Paula — Acknowledgments
Phillips, Stanley — Acknowledgments
Philpot, J.C. (Strict Baptist writer) — Acknowledgments
Piper, John — Acknowledgments
Platonic Floor, the (master diagnosis, 21 costumes, floor swap to operational idealism) — App. N
Plotinus (Neoplatonist, corrupted Plato’s idealism into realist hierarchy) — App. J, App. N
Polanyi, Michael (Personal Knowledge, The Tacit Dimension, closest philosophical precedent to pre-propositional) — App. E
Pseudo-Dionysius (fifth-to-sixth-century Neoplatonic systematizer of the Eastern tradition) — App. N
Potts, Ian — Acknowledgments
Poythress, Vern (information theory and theology) — App. J
Price, Scott — Acknowledgments
Primitive Baptists (oneness position, treated sympathetically) — Ch. 6
Rages, Nathan — Acknowledgments
Reagan, Cassie — Acknowledgments
Robbins, John (Trinity Foundation, Clark interpreter) — Acknowledgments
Ruell, Julie — Acknowledgments
Ryle, J.C. — Acknowledgments
Scofield Reference Bible — Ch. 27
Shepard, Gary — Acknowledgments
Shofstahl, Charles — Acknowledgments
Smith, James K. A. (Desiring the Kingdom, Imagining the Kingdom, desiring creatures) — App. E
Smith, Jason and Alissa — Acknowledgments
Smith, Mikal — Acknowledgments
Spurgeon, Charles (pastoral heart, not theological influence) — Preface, Ch. 30, Acknowledgments
Swindoll, Chuck (pastoral heart, boot parameters from childhood) — Preface, Ch. 30, Acknowledgments
Tate, Frank — Acknowledgments
Terrell, Joe — Acknowledgments
Thomism / Thomist metaphysics (act and potency) — App. A1
Trav — Acknowledgments
Tussey, Brandon — Acknowledgments
Tyndale, William — Ch. 27
Warmack, Richard — Acknowledgments
Washer, Paul — Acknowledgments
Wells, Norm — Acknowledgments
Wetzel, John — Acknowledgments
Wiese, Chuck — Acknowledgments
Winegar, Greg (closest friend since 2005, designed the book cover, pristinegrace.org community member) — Acknowledgments
Winegar, Pam (Greg’s wife) — Acknowledgments
Wycliffe, John — Ch. 27
Zwingli (memorialism) — Ch. 10
Canons of Dort — App. A5 (referenced indirectly via “Dort on particular redemption”)
Heidelberg Catechism — App. A5
London Baptist Confession — App. A5
Note: The author signs no confession (Preface, App. A). All major confessions are referenced as useful but incomplete. The “campless” identity is a core theme.
Apollos — Ch. 24
Balaam — Ch. 15, App. A
Daughters of Philip — Ch. 24
Emmaus disciples — Ch. 29
Esther — Ch. 26
Hagar — Ch. 6
Isaac and Rebekah — Ch. 10
Jacob — Ch. 15
Jesus Christ — throughout; see Incarnation, Hypostatic union, Prophet Priest King, Active obedience, Resurrection body, etc.
Job — Ch. 14, App. A
Lydia — App. A
Joseph (Genesis) — App. A (referenced in dreams section)
Judas — App. A9
Manoah — Ch. 6
Mary Magdalene (at the tomb) — Ch. 29
Nebuchadnezzar — Ch. 13, App. A (referenced in dreams section)
Noah — Ch. 8, App. A
Paul (apostle) — Preface, Ch. 9, Ch. 15, Ch. 18, Ch. 19, Ch. 20, Ch. 21, Ch. 22, Ch. 24, Ch. 30, Epilogue
Paul’s dungeon (2 Timothy 4:16-17, “no man stood with me”) — Epilogue
Pharaoh — App. A9
Philippian jailer — Ch. 30
Phebe (Phoebe) — Ch. 24
Priscilla — Ch. 24
Publican (Luke 18) — Ch. 14
Samson — App. A
Thomas (doubting) — Ch. 29
Anger — Ch. 17 (old firmware channel)
Animals in the framework (ontology, rendering states, eating meat, reverence) — App. A1
Apologetics (limited role of) — Ch. 25
Addiction — App. A11
Aging and losing capacity — App. A11
Anxiety about the future — App. A11
Assurance (faith IS assurance, doubt as layer conflict) — Ch. 21
Church discipline — App. A5
Church membership (formality, not substance) — Ch. 23, Epilogue
Clergy, no authority over conscience — Epilogue
Classical education / trivium — Ch. 16
Tenderness (as greater gift, women carry naturally, Christ modeled) — Ch. 24
Dating / relationships — Ch. 10 (marriage as covenant)
Child with disabilities — App. A11
Depression / anxiety — Ch. 17 (feelings architecture; therapy discussion), App. A11
Death, fear of — App. A11
Death of a child — App. A11
Degrees of punishment vs. degrees of grace — Ch. 14
Forgiveness — App. A7 (Lord’s Prayer; divorce and remarriage)
Fear of man — App. A11
Forgiveness (when they won’t apologize) — App. A11
Gender roles — Ch. 24
Giving (voluntary, not mandated) — App. A8
Government and politics — App. A8
God’s silence (when God feels silent) — App. A11
Grace, extending to other believers — Ch. 30
Guilt after sin — App. A11
Grief and lament — App. A10
Grief, comforting the grieving — App. A10
Heaven and hell (same reality, different firmware) — Ch. 28, App. J
Hurt by the church — App. A11
Liberty from institutional authority — Epilogue
Loneliness — App. A11
Lord’s Prayer — App. A9
Joy in the sovereign grace world (the missing fruit) — Preface, Ch. 21, Ch. 30, Epilogue
Marriage and submission (Eph 5:22-33, husband’s heavier burden, abuse voids the claim, direct word to men and women) — App. A7
Marriage, struggling — App. A, App. A7
Marriage supper of the Lamb (the eschatological feast the Lord’s Supper renders) — Ch. 10, Ch. 28, App. L
Marital sexuality and the eschatological bed (the bed as preview of the marriage supper of the Lamb) — Ch. 10, App. A6 (in Eschatology section)
Living as worship in the new creation (heaven is bigger than throne-worship) — App. A6 (Eschatology section)
Covenant companion (the wife of thy covenant, Malachi 2:14, as the biblical term for the eternal spousal bond) — App. A6 (Eschatology section)
Marriage persisting into the new creation (Matthew 22 properly located, speculative but derived) — App. A6 (Eschatology section)
Heaven enlarged (feast, reigning, intimacy, work, throne integrated) — App. A6
God’s delight in the saints’ enjoyment — App. A6
The reduction of heaven to disembodied choir (Plato in the floorboards) — App. A6
Premarital sex (pastoral answer) — App. A7
Alcohol and drug use (pastoral, the mastery principle) — App. A7
Birth control (pastoral, stewardship vs. sovereignty) — App. A7
Singleness (as gift, Paul’s preference, Christ single) — App. A7
Pornography (redirection of the craving for intimacy) — App. A7
Masturbation (pastoral, four cases, refusing legalism and license) — App. A7
Dying well / approaching death (pastoral) — App. A11
Watching a loved one die (pastoral for the family) — App. A11
Defending the household (Paul’s 1 Tim 5:8 as physical protection) — App. A8
Paul likely married (historical note, Sanhedrin membership, 1 Cor 7:8) — App. A7
Family size / stewardship — App. A7
Infertility (God opens and closes wombs) — App. A7
Sexual shame — App. A11
Mental health / therapy — Ch. 17
Modesty — Ch. 21
Music (Brandan plays trombone in three bands) — Preface
No marriage in heaven — Ch. 29
Parenting — Ch. 16 (trivium, Cole’s classical education), App. A7
Pastoral care for the struggling — Ch. 2, Ch. 14, Ch. 18, Ch. 20, App. A11
Practical applications of the sentence (the bedside) — App. A11 (Section XII)
Patriarchy — Ch. 24 (creation order; complementarianism), App. A7 (weaponization of Eph 5:22 critiqued)
Abuse in marriage (husband’s abuse voids his claim to submission) — App. A7
Submission in marriage — see Marriage and submission
Political engagement — App. A8
Purpose and calling — App. A11
“Why was I born this way?” (authored nature) — Ch. 11, App. A11
Present the truth softly and wait on the Lord — Preface, Prologue, Ch. 14, Ch. 19, Epilogue
Programming / software development (author’s career) — Preface, Ch. 1, Ch. 3, Ch. 16, Ch. 17
Psychology (in the framework) — Ch. 17
Rewards in heaven — see Degrees of reward in heaven
Saints reigning with Christ — Ch. 28
Stewardship / wealth — App. A8
Study to be quiet (1 Thessalonians 4:11) — Ch. 21
Suffering is not punishment (Christ already bore it) — App. A11
Using theology as a weapon — App. A10
Work / vocation — Preface (Brandan’s career as a programmer)
Genesis 2:7 (dichotomy) — App. A4
Genesis 2:24 (one flesh) — Ch. 10
Genesis 6 (Nephilim / flood) — App. A2
Genesis 9 (Noahic covenant, animals) — Ch. 8, App. A
Genesis 17 (Abrahamic covenant) — Ch. 8
Genesis 24 (Isaac and Rebekah) — Ch. 10
Exodus 32:25 (naked unto their shame, preview of reprobate final state) — Ch. 28
Exodus 32:28 (three thousand fell that day) — Ch. 28
Numbers 22:28 (Balaam’s donkey) — App. A9
Numbers 23:19 (God is not a man that He should lie) — Ch. 7
Numbers 23:21 (no iniquity beheld in Jacob) — Ch. 15
Deuteronomy 30:6 (circumcision of the heart) — Ch. 22
Joshua 22 (altar misunderstanding) — Ch. 30
Judges 16:30 (Samson) — App. A
1 Samuel 2:7 (the Lord makes rich and poor) — App. A
1 Samuel 16:14 (evil spirit from the Lord) — Ch. 13
2 Samuel 7 (Davidic covenant) — Ch. 8
2 Samuel 12:23 (David’s child) — App. A
Job — Ch. 14, App. A
Psalms — Ch. 2, Ch. 4, Ch. 11, Ch. 15, Ch. 18, Ch. 26, Ch. 28
Psalm 14:1 (the fool) — Ch. 25
Psalm 22 (crucifixion prophecy) — Ch. 26
Psalm 32:2 (blessed is the man) — Ch. 15
Psalm 90:2 (from everlasting to everlasting) — Ch. 2
Psalm 92:7 (wicked flourish to be destroyed) — Ch. 19
Psalm 119:130 (entrance of thy words) — Ch. 26
Psalm 51:6 (truth in inward parts, hidden part as firmware) — App. E
Psalm 139:16 (members written in thy book, filmstrip scriptural seed) — Ch. 2, Ch. 28
Psalm 147:4 (he names the stars) — Ch. 4
Proverbs 4:18 (path of the just) — Ch. 9
Proverbs 16:4 (wicked for the day of evil) — Ch. 5, Ch. 11, Ch. 13
Proverbs 16:18 (pride before destruction) — Ch. 14
Isaiah 9:7 (increase of his government) — Ch. 8
Isaiah 11:6-9 (wolf and lamb) — App. A
Isaiah 14 (king of Babylon, not Satan) — Ch. 13
Isaiah 45:7 (God creates evil) — Ch. 1, Ch. 5, Ch. 7, Ch. 11, Ch. 12, Ch. 13
Isaiah 46:10 (declaring the end from the beginning) — Ch. 1, Ch. 5
Isaiah 64:6 (filthy rags) — Ch. 21
Jeremiah 17:9 (deceitful heart) — Ch. 17
Jeremiah 31:33 (new covenant, law in inward parts) — Ch. 1, Ch. 7, Ch. 21, App. E
Lamentations 3:21-23 (mercies new every morning, great is thy faithfulness) — App. A
Lamentations 3:38 (evil and good from the Most High) — Ch. 5, Ch. 13
Ezekiel 28 (king of Tyre, not Satan) — Ch. 13
Daniel 9 (timeline to the Messiah) — Ch. 26
Daniel 12:2 (everlasting shame and contempt) — Ch. 28
Micah 5:2 (Bethlehem) — Ch. 26
Zechariah 11:12 (thirty pieces of silver) — Ch. 26
Matthew 5:26 (uttermost farthing) — Ch. 28
Matthew 5:48 (be ye perfect) — Ch. 20
Matthew 10:29 (sparrows) — Ch. 5, App. A
Matthew 11:24 (more tolerable for Sodom) — Ch. 14
Matthew 13 (wheat and tares) — Ch. 12, App. A
Matthew 18:15-17 (church discipline) — App. A5
Matthew 22:30 (no marriage in heaven) — Ch. 29
Matthew 23:27 (whitewashed tombs) — Ch. 14
Matthew 24 (Olivet Discourse) — Ch. 27
Matthew 24:34 (this generation) — Ch. 27
Matthew 24:36 (no man knows the day) — Ch. 27
Matthew 26:24 (woe to Judas) — App. A
Matthew 28:18 (all power given) — Ch. 27
Mark 16:16 (he that believeth not) — Ch. 12
Luke 13:4-5 (tower of Siloam) — App. A
Luke 17:21 (kingdom within you) — Ch. 27
Luke 18 (Pharisee and publican) — Ch. 14
Luke 22:19 (Lord’s Supper) — Ch. 10
Luke 24 (resurrection appearances) — Ch. 29
John 1:14 (Word made flesh) — Ch. 6
John 1:18 (only begotten declared Him) — Ch. 6
John 3:8 (wind blows where it wills) — Ch. 30, App. A
John 5:17 (My Father worketh hitherto) — App. A
John 5:39 (ye search the Scriptures) — Ch. 30
John 6 — Ch. 25, App. A
John 6:44 (no man can come except the Father draw him) — Ch. 25
John 6:70 (one of you is a devil) — App. A
John 8:44 (seed of the serpent) — Ch. 12
John 10 (the Good Shepherd) — Ch. 15, App. A
John 13:35 (love one another) — Ch. 30
John 16:12-13 (guide you into all truth) — Ch. 9
John 18:36 (kingdom not of this world) — Ch. 27
John 19:30 (“It is finished”) — Ch. 15, Ch. 19, Ch. 20, Ch. 30
John 20 (Thomas, Mary) — Ch. 29
Acts 1:9 (ascension) — Ch. 29
Acts 1:11 (He shall so come) — App. A
Acts 2:38 (baptism and forgiveness, low resolution) — Ch. 9
Acts 5:29 (obey God rather than men) — App. A
Acts 15:18 (known unto God from the beginning) — Ch. 2
Acts 16:30-31 (Philippian jailer) — Ch. 30
Acts 17:28 (in him we live and move) — Ch. 1
Acts 18:26 (Priscilla and Apollos) — Ch. 24
Romans 2:1 (thou that judgest) — Ch. 14
Romans 2:15 (conscience) — App. A
Romans 2:28-29 (circumcision of the heart) — Ch. 22
Romans 3:10 (none righteous) — Ch. 7
Romans 3:23 (all have sinned) — Ch. 14
Romans 4:5 (worketh not but believeth) — Ch. 26
Romans 5:19 (obedience of one) — Ch. 15
Romans 5:20 (law entered that offence might abound) — Ch. 20
Romans 7:4 (dead to the law) — Ch. 20
Romans 7:7 (thou shalt not covet) — Ch. 20
Romans 8:2 (law of the Spirit of life) — Ch. 20
Romans 8:15 (Spirit of adoption) — Ch. 15
Romans 8:16 (Spirit beareth witness with our spirit, firmware-level witness) — App. E
Romans 8:18 (sufferings not worthy to be compared) — App. A
Romans 8:19-22 (creation groaning) — App. A
Romans 8:28 (all things work together) — Ch. 2
Romans 8:38-39 (nothing can separate) — Ch. 20, App. A
Romans 9:17 (Pharaoh raised up) — App. A
Romans 10:4 (Christ the end of the law) — Ch. 20
Romans 10:17 (faith by hearing) — Ch. 25
Romans 13 (government and the sword) — App. A
Romans 14:4 (who art thou that judgest) — Ch. 30
Romans 14:17 (kingdom: righteousness, peace, joy) — Ch. 21
1 Corinthians 1:30 (Christ our sanctification) — Ch. 18
1 Corinthians 2:11 (spirit of man, firmware-level knowledge) — App. E
1 Corinthians 2:16 (mind of Christ) — Ch. 16
1 Corinthians 3:6-7 (God gives the increase) — Ch. 16, Ch. 19
1 Corinthians 4:7 (what hast thou not received) — Ch. 30
1 Corinthians 6:2-3 (saints judge the world) — Ch. 28
1 Corinthians 11:26 (show the Lord’s death) — Ch. 10
1 Corinthians 12-14 (body, gifts, participation) — Ch. 23, Ch. 24, App. A
1 Corinthians 12:13 (baptized into one body) — Ch. 22, Ch. 23
1 Corinthians 13 (love) — Ch. 30
1 Corinthians 13:12 (glass darkly, two-directional, architecture of the final state) — Ch. 9, Ch. 28
1 Corinthians 14:26 (every one of you hath) — Ch. 23
1 Corinthians 15:19 (if only in this life) — App. A
1 Corinthians 15:42-44 (sown natural, raised spiritual) — Ch. 29
2 Corinthians 2:15-16 (savour of life/death) — Ch. 12, Ch. 28
2 Corinthians 5:14 (love of Christ constraineth) — Ch. 20, Ch. 21
2 Corinthians 5:20 (be ye reconciled) — Ch. 19
2 Corinthians 9:7 (cheerful giver) — App. A
2 Corinthians 10:4 (weapons not carnal) — App. A
2 Corinthians 12:9 (grace sufficient) — App. A
Galatians 3-5 (law, liberty, Spirit) — Ch. 8, Ch. 12, Ch. 15, Ch. 19, Ch. 20, Ch. 21
Galatians 3:13 (Christ made a curse) — Ch. 8, Ch. 12, Ch. 20
Galatians 3:28 (neither male nor female) — Ch. 24
Galatians 4:6 (because ye are sons) — Ch. 15
Galatians 4:9 (weak and beggarly elements) — Ch. 21
Galatians 5:12 (cut off which trouble you) — Ch. 21
Galatians 5:17 (flesh against Spirit) — Ch. 17
Galatians 5:22 (fruit of the Spirit, including faith) — Ch. 15, Ch. 19, Ch. 25
Ephesians 1:4-5 (chosen before the foundation) — Ch. 7, Ch. 15, Ch. 18
Ephesians 2:3-4 (children of wrath, but God) — Ch. 15
Ephesians 2:8-9 (by grace through faith) — Ch. 15, Ch. 19, Ch. 21
Ephesians 2:10 (created unto good works) — Ch. 18
Ephesians 5:18 (be filled with the Spirit) — App. A
Ephesians 6:12 (wrestle not against flesh and blood) — App. A
Philippians 1:6 (He which hath begun a good work) — Ch. 21
Philippians 2:10-11 (every knee shall bow) — Ch. 28
Philippians 2:13 (God worketh in you, both to will and to do) — Ch. 2, Ch. 16, Ch. 18, Ch. 21, Ch. 25, App. E
Philippians 3:20-21 (fashioned like His glorious body) — Ch. 29, App. A
Colossians 1:15 (image of the invisible God) — Ch. 6
Colossians 1:16-17 (by him all things consist) — Ch. 1, Ch. 3, Ch. 5
Colossians 2:9 (fullness of the Godhead bodily) — Ch. 6
Colossians 2:10 (complete in Him) — Ch. 20
Colossians 2:11-12 (Spirit baptism, not water) — Ch. 22
Colossians 3:16 (psalms, hymns, spiritual songs) — App. A
1 Timothy 1:15 (chief of sinners, present tense) — Ch. 18
1 Timothy 2:5-6 (ransom for all) — Ch. 12
1 Timothy 2:12-13 (women not to teach, creation order) — Ch. 24
1 Timothy 3:15 (pillar and ground of truth) — Ch. 23
1 Timothy 4:2 (seared conscience) — App. A
2 Timothy 2:16-18 (Hymenaeus error) — App. A6
2 Timothy 3:1 (perilous times) — Ch. 27
2 Timothy 3:16 (all Scripture given by inspiration) — Ch. 26
Hebrews 1:3 (upholding all things) — Ch. 1
Hebrews 1:14 (ministering spirits) — App. A
Hebrews 4:3-10 (entering His rest) — App. A
Hebrews 8:10 (laws written on hearts) — Ch. 20
Hebrews 10:14 (perfected for ever) — Ch. 18
Hebrews 10:29 (sorer punishment) — Ch. 12
Hebrews 11:3 (things seen not made of things visible) — Ch. 1, Ch. 3
Hebrews 12:14 (follow holiness) — Ch. 18
Hebrews 13:8 (Jesus Christ the same) — Ch. 18
Hebrews 13:17 (obey leaders, hegeomai) — Ch. 23
1 Peter 1:20 (foreordained before the foundation) — Ch. 15
1 Peter 2:24 (bare our sins) — Ch. 15
1 Peter 5:1-3 (elders, not lording) — Ch. 23
2 Peter 1:20-21 (moved by the Holy Ghost) — Ch. 26
2 Peter 3:18 (grow in grace and knowledge) — Ch. 18
1 John 1:7 (blood cleanseth from all sin) — Ch. 14
1 John 2:18 (many antichrists) — App. A6
1 John 2:27 (anointing teaches you) — Ch. 20
1 John 3:14 (passed from death, love the brethren) — Ch. 30
1 John 4:4 (greater is He) — App. A
1 John 4:7-8 (God is love) — Ch. 30
1 John 5:13 (that ye may know) — App. A
Revelation 5:10 (kings and priests, reign on earth) — Ch. 28
Revelation 5:13 (every creature praising) — App. A
Revelation 13-14 (mark, torment in God’s presence) — Ch. 27, Ch. 28
Revelation 13:8 (Lamb slain from the foundation) — Ch. 5, Ch. 6, Ch. 15
Revelation 13:17 (no man might buy or sell) — Ch. 27
Revelation 14:10 (tormented in presence of the Lamb) — Ch. 28
Revelation 18:6 (according to her works) — Ch. 28
Revelation 19-21 (new creation, saints reign) — Ch. 28, Ch. 29
Revelation 19:1-3 (Alleluia over judgment) — Ch. 28
Revelation 20:2 (Satan bound) — App. A
Revelation 20:6 (first resurrection, reign) — Ch. 28
Revelation 20:10 (lake of fire, forever) — App. A
Revelation 21:1 (new heaven and new earth) — Ch. 28
Acknowledgments thank-you list (extended community of theological influences, friends, family, and contributors) — Acknowledgments
Ashland, Kentucky — Ch. 23
Brandan’s career (computer programmer since age 10) — Preface, Ch. 1, Ch. 3, Ch. 16, Ch. 25
Cole (son) — Ch. 16, Preface, Acknowledgments, Dedication, Epilogue
Cole, letter to (the book is for you) — Dedication, Epilogue
Coleman, Joyce (mother-in-law, taught faith is simple, deceased) — Acknowledgments
Coleman, Mick and Darlene (parents-in-law) — Acknowledgments
“Enough for Me” (song) — Ch. 30
Kraft, Wayne and Carole (parents, gave Brandan the basis of his theological framework from childhood) — Acknowledgments
OJ (the cat, the gospel in fur) — Preface, App. A
Predestinarian.net — Prologue, Acknowledgments
Pristine Grace / pristinegrace.org / bornagain.net — Prologue, Preface, Ch. 5, Ch. 9, Ch. 12, Ch. 19, Ch. 22, Ch. 30, Epilogue, App. F, App. K
Tithing rejection at age 26 (origin of Brandan’s independence from institutional church) — Preface, Epilogue
Trombone (three community bands) — Preface
“As we established in Chapter 1” — referenced in Ch. 2, Ch. 3, Ch. 5, Ch. 7, Ch. 11, Ch. 25
“As we established in Chapter 2” — referenced in Ch. 4, Ch. 6, Ch. 10, Ch. 15, Ch. 28
“As we established in Chapter 5” — referenced in Ch. 7, Ch. 11, Ch. 14
“As we established in Chapter 7” (federal headship) — referenced in Ch. 11
“As we established in Chapter 8” — referenced in Ch. 9, Ch. 20, Ch. 22
“As we established in Chapter 11” — referenced in Ch. 12, Ch. 13, Ch. 14
“As we established in Chapter 12” (two seeds, image of God) — referenced in Ch. 17, Ch. 26, Ch. 28
“As we established in Chapter 16” (firmware) — referenced in Ch. 17, Ch. 25
“As we discussed in Chapter 17” — referenced in App. E
“As we established in Chapter 20” — referenced in Ch. 21, App. A
Framework predicts its own limits — Ch. 6, Ch. 27, Ch. 28, Ch. 29, App. A
“If correct doctrine does not save, incorrect doctrine does not damn” — see Ch. 30
“I will present the truth softly and wait on the Lord” — see Preface, Prologue, Epilogue, Ch. 14, Ch. 19
“We are just God’s eternal thoughts collapsed in a moment in time” — see Ch. 2, Epilogue
Clark, Gordon (detailed comparison with Kraft) — App. I
Reformed systems (comparison chart) — App. I
Copyright © 2026 by Brandan Kraft. All rights reserved.
Published by Pristine Grace Publishing · pristinegrace.org
ISBN: 979-8-234-05049-6 · First Edition, 2026
Read A Thought in the Mind of God offline in your preferred format.
Commentary